Third Sunday after Easter, May 3rd, 2020
In the Sixteenth chapter of St. John's Gospel, Our Blessed Saviour is preparing the disciples for His eventual departure from their midst. But this is confusing for the disciples because Our Lord is telling them "A little while, and ye shall not see Me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see Me." (St. John 16:16) Obviously, He was referring to His coming Death upon the Cross, Burial, and Resurrection. Later on He says: " . . . and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. " (v.20) As human beings, we have a lot of emotions, we feel happy; we feel sad; we feel joyous; we feel anxious; we feel scared; we feel peaceful; etc. And typically, these emotions have root causes. For example, we might feel sad because a beloved family member just passed away. Or we might feel joyful because it is a beautiful Spring day, and we are off from work, and we are going to the baseball game. Sometimes we feel a certain way due seemingly to no reason at all but typically our emotions are caused by some factor as described in the examples above. For Christians, Christ is the reason for our hope. He is the reason for our joy. Our Blessed Saviour is the reason for our motivation in life. We must always remember to acknowledge that God is the Lord and Master of our life. We must always remember to put God first in everything. We need to have a personal relationship with God and to speak with Him every day. When we have God deep in our heart, the world can never take that away, no matter what it throws at you. This is why Our Blessed Savior said: "And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you." (v.22) No man can take away the joy that God has given us. The world can not take away the love that we have for Our Heavenly Father. No amount of heartache can take away the love that God has for each one of us. Always keep in mind the love that God has for you. Always remember that God has chosen you as one of His own. Never forget that Christ died on the Cross to atone for your sins so that you can be forgiven.
PLEASE NOTE: St. Margaret Church will NOT meet on Sunday, May 3rd, 2020.
St. Margaret Church is still being affected, as is the whole world, by the Coronavirus outbreak. Specifically, our church is not allowed to meet as we would like due to CDC and State recommendations. But despite these recommendations, our members still continue to pray to Our Heavenly Father. Our members still continue to reach out to their neighbors and loved ones. Our members still continue to be the face and hands and instruments of the Lord throughout these troubling times. Additionally, Fr. Todd also continues to post his sermons and reflections online. So, please continue to pray for St. Margaret Church and all the Christian Churches throughout the world that we may continue to stay close to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.
And please remember that you can still show support to St. Margaret Church by sharing these posts on social media . . . sharing the sermons and reflections of Fr. Todd on social media as well. In this way, despite any sort of "lock-down," you will help St. Margaret Church continue to spread the Gospel and continue to tell the world about our love for Our Blessed Saviour!
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